Foldable wall shelves



June 8, 1965 L. ROSS FOLDABLE WALL SHELVES Filed March 25. 1963 INVENTOR LON ROSS United States Patent 3,187,632 FOLDABLE WALL SHELVES Lon Ross, East Rockaway, N311, assignor to Maurice Duchin Creations, Inc, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 25, 1963, Ser. No. 267,612

1 Claim. ((11. 1158-134) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in wall shelves, and in particular the invention concerns itself with ornamental wall shelves which have a wallmounted back member and a shelf member projecting horizontally forwardly from the back member to support clocks, planters, knick-knacks, or the like.

Inasmuch as in shelves of this type the back member and the shelf member are at right angles to each other, a considerable amount of space is required to store such shelves, as for example, in a warehouse or a retailing establishment. Moreover, such shelves are frequently shipped in cartons or cardboard boxes in which they are individually packed, and the shelf arrangement requires unduly large cartons to be used with a substantial waste of space.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the invention to provide a foldable wall shelf which may be quickly and easily collapsed into a compact form for convenient shipment or storage, but which may be readily unfolded for immediate use.

Other advantages of the invention reside in its simplioity of construction, pleasing appearance, and in its adaptability to convenient and economical manufacture.

With the foregoing more important object and features in view and such other objects and features as may be-,

come apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the foldable Wall shelf in accordance with the invention, showing the same in its unfolded or erected position;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational View thereof;

FIGURE 3 is -a top plan view of the same; 7

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the shelf in its folded position; 7

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary, enlarged perspective view showing the shelf member raised from its supporting brace; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, enlarged sectional detail of one of the bearings.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the foldable wall shelf in accordance with the invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 19 and comprises three main components, namely, a back member 11, a shelf member 12 and a brace 13.

In terms of its intended function, the wall shelf may be used for supporting clocks, planters, knick-knacks, or the like, and'it preferably has an ornamental appearance, being constructed for most part of wire rods which are bent and welded together. The particular ornamental design of the shelf is of no consideration here and accordingly, the design depicted in the drawings is for illustrative purposes only.

As illustrated, the back member 11 includes a ring 14 surmounted by a top portion 15 and provided with a depending bottom portion 16, the ring '14 as well as the portions 15, 16 being formed from wire rod and welded together.

The shelf member 12 consists of a wire rod frame 17 having a shelf panel 18 secured thereon, the panel 18 preferably being formed from sheet metal, either solid or apertured, as desired. The panel 18 is also welded to the frame 17 and it will be noted that end portions of the wire rod from which the frame is formed are spaced away from the adjacent edge of the panel 18 and constitute a pair of coaxial stub shafts 17' which are rotatably journalled in a pair of tubular sleeve bearings 19, welded to diametrically opposite side portions of the ring 14. The entire shelf is mounted on a wall, indicated at 2d, by suitable fastening elements 21 from which the top portion 15 of the back member 12 may be suspended, and since the bearings 19 have a horizontal axis, the shelf member 12 may be swung in a vertical plane from a forwardly projecting, horizontal position as shown in FIGURES l-3 to a folded position as shown in FIGURE 4, wherein the shelf member is juxtaposed vertically to the back member 11. It will be observed that the ends of the stub shafts 17 are wedged as indicated at 22 so as to prevent them from sliding out of the bearings 19, as is best shown in FIGURE 6.

The shelf member 12 is supported in its operative, horizontal position by the brace 13 which is alsoformed from wire rod and is rotatably journalled in a pair of coaxial, vertical bearing sleeves 23 secured to the ring 14 and bottom portion 116 of the back member 11. The brace 13 may be swedged as at 24 at opposite ends of the lower of the bearings 23 to prevent the brace from sliding, and the upper end portion of the brace is preferably curved as at 13' for supporting engagement with the underside of the shelf member 12, more specifically, the underside of the shelf panel 18. A U-shaped detent 25, formed from wire rod, is secured to the underside of the panel 18 to receive the brace portion 13 between the sides thereof, whereby to prevent the brace from swinging or turning in the bearings 23 when the shelf member 12 is lowered to its horizontal, operative position. When the shelf member 12 is folded upwardly against the back member 11 as shown in FIGURE 4, the brace 13 is simply swung horizontally to one side or the other, so that it also becomes juxtaposed to the back member and the entire shelf assumes a substantially flat, folded form for compact storage or shipping.

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, various modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure and various modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

In a foldable wall shelf, the combination of a vertical back member adapted to be mounted on a wall, a pair of transversely spaced and horizontally coaxial bearings secured to the front face of said back member intermediate the top and bottom of the back member, a shelf member comprising a panel having a back edge and a marginal wire rod frame supporting said panel, said frame having a pair of horizontally coaxial free end portions parallel to but spaced from the back edge of said panel, said free end portions of the frame having transversely spaced opposing ends and being rotatably journalled in the respective bearings whereby to hingedly connect the shelf member to the back member and permit swinging of the shelf member in a vertical plane between a horizontal operative position and a vertical inoperative position wherein the shelf member is folded flat against the top portion of the back member, a pair of vertically spaced and vertically coaxial bearings secured to the front face of the bottom portion of said back member in coplanar relation with said horizontally coaxial bearings and transversely midway between the latter, a wire rod brace having a straight lower portion rotatably journalled in said vertically coaxial bearings and a curved upper portion, said brace being swingable in a horizontal plane from an operative position wherein itprojects forwardly from said back member to an inoperative position wherein it is folded substantially flat against one side of the bottom portion of the back member, said panel of the shelf member resting on said curved upper portion of said brace when the shelf member and brace are in their operative positions, and a seat provided at the underside of said shelf member panel for removable reception of the curved upper portion of said brace. a

Justice 108-134 Barnes 108-134 Nielson 108-134X Ives 108-134 Shilander 108-134 Goodrich 108-134 Larsson 108-134 Jones 10s 134 Roesel 108-134 Schmer-tz 108-134 X FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

